Oh, gentlemen, perhaps I really regard myself as an intelligent man only because throughout my entire life I’ve never been able to start or finish anything... Every man has some reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has others which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But finally there are still others which a man is even afraid to tell himself...

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Turkish March

Coming home after a very annoying day with traffic and crap I followed a show called 90 Minutes with Motaz El Demerdaash on a channel called El Mehwar. I saw a man with bruises on his face telling the story of how he was attacked by dogs in the movenpick hotel (media city) where the dishonorable prince Turk (or Turkey) resides. I hate relaying events with details but briefly this so called prince owns these vicious dogs and lets them loose in the hotel, and they eat with guests and basically he has made the whole hotel his palace irrespective of the guests. What happened is that some of these guys were playing football when one of the dogs felt like attacking and so they all ran, but one of them tripped and the dog bit his face. As scandalous as this is, that’s not what gets to me most.

What gets to me is that a few weeks back there was a little girl who was nearly killed by those dogs. I don’t mean the Saudis living in the hotel, I mean the dogs they own. Even though this was publicized nothing was done about it. To make matters even more annoying I found out that there were 90 other charges filed to the police. 85 of which were withdrawn by applying pressure and threats to the victims. If 90 cases reached the police, how many incidents did actually happen?

In any case the so called prince has stayed in Tunis but was kicked out after assaulting one of the workers there, not even a guest. He was kicked out of the Hilton as well after a series of disgraceful events. His body guards are accustomed to beating up anyone, people staying at the movenpick or the security guards there. He has become untouchable.

Now this was very brief, but the reason I’m writing about it is to convey my anger about this whole situation. The greedy bastards want his money at the hotel and so what if a few hundred ordinary lives are sacrificed for the prince’s money. It is also well known that he has investments in Egypt and that the government will not kick him out unless he commits a murder and even then I’m not entirely certain if they will. A few ordinary lives are worth much less than the money. So what if he harms people, he pays for their blood with his money. The government can live with it, the hotel can live with it and the people through their passiveness have chosen to live with it.

Let me ask this, why do we let corrupt people govern us? What happened to the good people up there (if there are any)? We really have no choice about whom we’re governed by and the truth is that good people have no power because the normal has been total disregard for human life. So why should Turk’s situation be any different? We’ve seen already in the constitution that they’ve sacrificed the well being of not just hundreds, but millions of lives so that those in power continue to gain more. Why should this be any different? Turk’s millions should account for hundreds of lives; after all we’re talking about hundreds not millions.

I have three reasons for stripping Turk out of his undeserved rank of prince. First and foremost because of a book by Thomas Paine called Common Sense that explains why monarchy is ridiculous (using common sense). Secondly I personally have no king or prince. Thirdly because the victim has also stated that such conduct is not befitting a prince. He said that on air and I jumped from my seat and I applauded him right then and there. I literally clapped several times, something I wouldn’t normally do even in some conventions that are cluttered with applause.

The funny thing is that the victim has stated very clearly that he expects nothing to be done, and right he is. How is it that the state of our affairs has become so miserable that we don’t expect any sort of justice? That’s even far worse than seeking justice and not finding it. It’s because we know that justice in this country is unattainable. If we’re continuously subjected to injustice by the same people who swore to uphold it, how can we expect them to give us justice when it is equal to being deprived of money?

A greedy lot we’ve become from years of deprivation. A defeated lot we’ve become from all the injustice. Suppose by some remote chance that after all the propaganda some sort of action is taken against Turk, that’s just pressure from the media. It just means that 85 previous cases meant nothing to them. It means that in ordinary circumstances you should not expect justice. It means that there’s no point in trying to play fair except for your own personal beliefs.

There must be a God to judge those few who have oppressed millions. If there is no God then they have the right to do anything and get away with it. Why not? If this life is all you can get and there’s no justice in this life, why even seek it? If that moral sense is not present then why not step on everyone? If you don’t believe in God then you must believe in Karma, otherwise you have no choice but try to be like them. Something in my heart tells me that there are so many things wrong with being just like them. Something tells me I’d rather fight for some sort of justice than be unjust to an entire nation. I don’t know if they have that same voice in their hearts or if they have hearts at all though.

Enough is enough. It’s too disturbing to keep hearing these stories. We live in a land that gives no justice, privacy, rights or even a chance to serve it in any way. If you don’t like it, leave… but even that is not an option. We’re trapped inside a very large prison.

This March doesn’t belong to Egyptians; even the days aren’t ours anymore. This March belongs to his highness prince Turk. So is it Government March, Saudi March or Turkish March? Either way this month, and probably every other, is not ours anymore.

Prince Turk owns a piece of land in a country that is allegedly mine. He has more rights, more respect and more of everything than I do. That is the case with most foreigners here because Egyptians are cheap. In the show and many others like it, people call in and say Egyptians are valuable, Egyptians are precious, we will not accept, etc.. etc.. But the victim on the show laughed, and I laughed too, because it’s all a croc. Egyptians are cheap and we know it. We might say we’re not and we might have some sort of false pride, but we know that Egyptians are cheap. They’re not worth a Saudi, not even in their home country.

Of course I’m not talking about the big guys. The big guys are valuable, untouchable just like the Saudi prince. I’m talking about us, the common folk. Yes even the Amn El Dawla officer reading this. He’s in no better state than we are. He has no choice but to think of the rest of us as inferior and think that he belongs to those with power.

Has Egypt changed so much since Saad Zaghlool said “Mafeesh Fayda?”(it’s useless)

I don’t know how to answer this question, are we better off or worse? For the first time I understand what it means that Egypt has been sold. It’s sold its soul to the devil in exchange of a few pennies and some power.

I sometimes wonder if we organized a protest to demonstrate against the horrid state that policemen themselves are in, would those poor soldiers who we’re protesting for beat us with sticks and try to silence us? I think they would, because they’re in such a horrible state that they don’t even know what they’re standing for. They’ve been deprived of thought and choice. We’ve been deprived of choice, the only thing we can choose to do is protest and get beaten and get arrested.

5 comments:

well, u sure are angry.. who isn't? u've tackled lots of issues that has been getting on my nerves since forever.. it always pissed the crap out of me that foreigners (esp. arabs) get to own land in egypt, while we as foreigners never get to do the same in most counties, always thought there should be a legislation for that..

as for that specific incident, the only thing i can think of (although quite lame compared to the tragedy) is to boycott movenpick.. i know that if all ppl stop going there, turk's money is enough to keep it in business, but sadly, there is nothing a common folk like me can do..

I've always despised those arabs who think they own life just because they have money, and it's really sad that egypt facilitates for them to behave that way and give them respect where they deserve none. They have no class, no history, little or unmentionable education but everyone disregards that and just look at how much money they have.

It's always sad for me to go to a hotel in cairo during summer and find it packed with arabs who dont respect the place they're in, who litter at the lobby and are loud totally disrespecting the presence of other people.

Contributors

Love

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”